Feeder for tubular knit fabrics



March 31, 1964 E. s. BEARD FEEDER FOR TUBULAR KNIT FABRICS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1961 Edward 5? Beard INVENTOR.\

March 31, 1964 E. s. BEARD 3,126,606

FEEDER FOR TUBULAR KNIT FABRICS Filed Sept. 22, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 2o 62 3 Fig 2 39 :5 2 O I 90 v /6 97 92 86 o 94 84 95 o O 89 14 22 i 7/? 39 Y 84 Q 86 f u a 90 o o 0 o 92 g 0 o 75 95 loda 2 Edward .51 Beard INVENTOK.

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March 31,1964 E. s. BEARD FEEDER FOR TUBULAR KNIT FABRICS Filed Sept. 22, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 W W I A N Wm M w T W w. W 1 E x Edward 5. Beard INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,126,606 FEEDER FOR TUBULAR KNIT FABRICS Edward S. Beard, Box 22, Spring City, Pa. Fiied Sept. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 146,023 6 Claims. (Ci. 26-55) This invention comprises a novel and useful feeder for tubular knit fabrics and more particularly pertains to a machine for stretching and spreading tubular knit fabrics and maintaining the fabric free of wrinkles during its continuous passage through the feeder.

The primary purpose of this invention is to provide an apparatus to keep the courses and wales in tubular knit fabrics straight during the finishing of the fabric and during the continuous passage of the fabric through the feeder machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment incorporated into a feeder for tubular knit fabrics and in advance of the constant feed rollers thereof and operable to maintain the edges of the fabric straight and parallel during the passage of the fabric through the machine.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide an attachment for feeders for tubular knit fabrics having controllable feed rollers independently driven and controlled to thereby regulate and vary the relative speeds of the opposite sides of a fabric to enable correction of a bowing of the edges or the development of wrinkles in the fabric.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a feeder for tubular knit fabrics capable of receiving fabrics having crooked stitch distortion of the fabric and the like, which defects may be occasioned by dying operations or other treatments accorded to the fabric and which will without interrupting the continuous passage of the fabric therethrough, correct the tangles, stitch distortion and the twisting of such fabrics.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a feeder for tubular knit fabrics incorporating therein the principles of this invention, certain. concealed parts being shown in dotted lines therein and part of the fabric being broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of one side of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the other side of the apparatus of FIGURE 1, parts being broken away;

FIGURE 4 is a detail view in vertical longitudinal section taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 and upon an enlarged scale and showing certain details of this invention applied to the feeder;

FIGURE 5 is a further detail view in vertical transverse section, parts being broken away, and taken substantially upon the plane indicated by section line 55 of FIGURE 1; and,

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of one of the spreader support frames in accordance with this invention.

Referring first to FIGURES 1-3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the feeder machine for tubular knit fabrics to which the principles of this invention are applied consists of a conventional supporting framework 10 having the customary upper and lower presser rolls 12 journalled thereon through which a continuous web of tubular knit fabric 14 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow 16 from a source of supply to a winding roll 18. As will be noted from FIGURES 2 and 3 the pair of upper and lower presser rolls 12 are provided with a "ice 2 manually operated pressure adjusting means indicated generally by the numeral 2% and by means of which the pressure applied to the fabric by the presser rolls 12 may be varied and controlled.

Inasmuch as this construction of the feeder machine is well understood, and forms no part of the invention claimed herein, a further description thereof is deemed to be unnecessary.

A further set of vertically spaced pairs of transversely spaced rollers 22 constitute drive feed rollers for moving the fabric through the machine and serve to mount a pair of spreader arms each indicated by the numeral 30 and to drive sets of auxiliary or driven feed rollers 32 journalled therein. Carried by and extending forwardly from and between a pair of the arms 30 is the usual spreader 34 over which and about which passes the tubular fabric 14 to be stretched and spread by the latter into the form of a ribbon of uniform width in advance of the passage of the fabric through the feeding rollers 22 and 32.

The spreading mechanism consisting of the spreader 34- and the laterally adjustable pair of spreader arms 30 may be of the type disclosed and claimed in my prior copending application Serial No. 57,670, filed September 22, 1960, now US. Patent No. 3,078,541, and in itself forms no part of the present invention.

In the present invention, there is provided a relatively adjustable power operated driving means for the drive feed rollers 22 at the opposite sides of the spreader assembly and the tubular fabric. For this purpose there is provided as shown best in FIGURE 5, two vertically spaced feed shafts each indicated generally by the numeral 39 and each consisting of a pair of complementary axially alined but spaced feed shaft sections. The upper pair of feed shaft sections is indicated at 40 and 42 in FIG- URE 5 and has secured thereto in adjustably fixed relation thereon a pair of the previously mentioned drive feed rollers 22 each provided with a rubber sleeve 44 thereabout. The adjacent ends of the alined shafts 4i and 42 are encircled by a sleeve 46 secured to one of the shaft sections such as the section 40 by means of set screw 48 and which sleeve embraces the adjacent ends of the two shaft sections and journals the adjacent end of the shaft section 42. A collar 50 secured with a set screw 52 to the shaft section 42 and abutting the sleeve 46 assists in maintaining the ends of the two shaft sections in alined but spaced relation with respect to each other.

The lower pair of feed shaft sections as indicated at 54 and 56 are likewise provided with the drive feed rollers 22 and their rubber sleeves 44. The opposed outer ends of each of the four shaft sections 40, 42, 54 and 56 is provided with a sprocket gear 58 fixedly secured thereto and the vertically alined sprocket gears of the upper and lower shaft sections are connected together at each side of the machine as by a sprocket chain 6i). Each sprocket chain is provided with an idler or tensioning sprocket 62. Thus, the upper and lower shaft sections 42, 56 and 40, 54 at each side of the machine are directly connected together for constant speed rotation, although the shafts at one side of the machine may be rotated at a different speed from the shafts at the other side of the machine by a means to be now set forth.

Power is applied to the sectional feeder shafts 39 as follows: Referring to FIGURES 2 and 3 it will be noted that an electric motor or other suitable source of power 70 through a reduction gear assembly 72 and a power output pulley 74 drives a belt 76 which in turn is connected to a driven pulley 73 on one end of the lower of the two presser rolls 12. Through mating gears 80 at each of the opposite ends of the presser rolls 12 these two rollers are connected together for rotation at the same speed. The feed roller shafts 39 in turn are driven from the presser rolls 12 by a pair of belts 84 at opposite ends thereof. Each belt 84 is entrained over an adjustable idler pulley 86 carried by a conventional adjustable belt tensioning means indicated by the numeral 88 and having a manually operable control 89, this arrangement being provided at each side of the machine. The belts 84 in turn are entrained over pulleys 90 and 92 carried respectively by the lowermost of the feed roller shafts 39 and the presser rolls 12 respectively. In turn, as shown in FIGURE 2, the windup or storage roller 18 is driven by a belt and pulley drive of similar design and indicated generally by the numeral 94 which is likewise provided with an adjustable belt tension'ing device 95 manually operated by a control means 97.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 it will be understood that while a pulley driving means at one side of the machine is of a constant speed ratio, that at the other side is variable. This variation is effected by only one of the driving pulleys in the train of power pulleys of a conventional variable diameter type such as the pulley indicated by the numeral 92. This pulley 92 may be any one of the pulleys disposed in that driving train and by appropriately adjusting the tension on its driving belt, the two flanges of the pulleys which are spring-urged toward each other can be forced apart so as to permit the belt to engage in driving relation the flanges at varying radial distances from the center of rotation thereof. Since pulleys of this construction are well known, a description of the pulley itself is deemed to be unnecessary for the purpose of this invention. The novelty claimed herein, however, resides in the use of a pulley of this character as a means for selectively varying the speed of rotation of the feeder shaft sections at one side of the machine with respect to those at the other side. For example, the feeder shaft sections 42, 56 at one side may have a substantially constant rate of rotation while the shafts 40 and 54 at the other side thereof and complementary thereto and may be varied with respect to the first-mentioned pair of shafts. As a result thereof, the feed rollers 22 at one side of the fabric 14 may be increased or decreased in speed relative to the other side thereby enabling the fabric to be stretched controllably at one side thereof. This adjustment is for the purpose of enabling twists, wraps, distortion or bowing of the edges of the fabric to be readily corrected and thus maintain at all times, by appropriate manual adjustment of the feed rollers, a smooth unwrinkled flow of stretched fabric through the machine.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A feeder assembly for tubular knit fabric feeders comprising a feeder support frame having a longitudinal axis, a plurality of drive feed rollers rotatably mounted on said frame, said feed rollers being disposed in cooperating pairs of upper and lower rollers positioned for gripping and imparting longitudinal travel to a tubular knit fabric passing longitudinally of said frame and between the rollers of each pair, said pairs being spaced transversely of said frame and with two marginal pairs of rollers adapted to each engage and longitudinally tension the top and bottom surfaces of a marginal side of a tubular knit fabric passing therebetween, driving means connected to each marginal pair of rollers for adjustably varying the longitudinal tension imparted by the marginal pairs of rollers to the opposite marginal sides of a tubular knit fabric, said feeder assembly including a pair of upper and lower power driven presser rolls disposed for pressingly engaging a tubular knit fabric passing therebetween, said driving means comprising independent driving connections between said presser rolls and each of said marginal pair of rollers, one of said independent driving connections including a speed varying means.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said one independent driving connection comprises a belt and pulley drive, said speed varying means comprising a belt tensioning varying means.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the other of said driving connections comprises a constant speed drive connection to one marginal pair of rollers.

4. The combination of claim 1 including means connecting the upper and lower rollers in each marginal pair for simultaneous rotation at the same surface speed.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein each of said feed rollers is fixedly mounted on a feed shaft section, the shaft sections of the upper marginal rollers being axially aligned and the shaft sections of the lower marginal rollers being axially aligned, said driving means including a driving connection to the outer ends of a pair of aligned shaft sections.

6. The combination of claim 5 including means coupling said aligned sections in adjustable axially spaced positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,203,719 Edmunds Nov. 7, 1916 2,189,166 Cohn et al Feb. 6, 1940 2,415,185 Moon Feb. 4, 1947 2,503,705 Blumenbaum et al Apr. 11, 1950 2,812,568 Beard Nov. 12, 1957 2,826,802 Beard Mar. 18, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 742,075 Germany Nov. 22, 1943 678,328 Great Britain Sept. 3, 1952 

1. A FEEDER ASSEMBLY FOR TUBULAR KNIT FABRIC FEEDERS COMPRISING A FEEDER SUPPORT FRAME HAVING A LONGITUDINAL AXIS, A PLURALITY OF DRIVE FEED ROLLERS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, SAID FEED ROLLERS BEING DISPOSED IN COOPERATING PAIRS OF UPPER AND LOWER ROLLERS POSITIONED FOR GRIPPING AND IMPARTING LONGITUDINAL TRAVEL TO A TUBULAR KNIT FABRIC PASSING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID FRAME AND BETWEEN THE ROLLERS OF EACH PAIR, SAID PAIRS BEING SPACED TRANSVERSELY OF SAID FRAME AND WITH TWO MARGINAL PAIRS OF ROLLERS ADAPTED TO EACH ENGAGE AND LONGITUDINALLY TENSION THE TOP AND BOTTOM SURFACES OF A MARGINAL SIDE OF A TUBULAR KNIT FABRIC PASSING THEREBETWEEN, DRIVING MEANS CONNECTED TO EACH MARGINAL PAIR OF ROLLERS FOR ADJUSTABLY VARYING THE LONGITUDINAL TENSION IMPARTED BY THE MARGINAL PAIRS OF ROLLERS TO THE OPPOSITE MARGINAL SIDES OF A TUBULAR KNIT FABRIC, SAID FEEDER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A PAIR OF UPPER AND LOWER POWER DRIVEN PRESSER ROLLS DISPOSED FOR PRESSINGLY ENGAGING A TUBULAR KNIT FABRIC PASSING THEREBETWEEN, SAID DRIVING MEANS COMPRISING INDEPENDENT DRIVING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SAID PRESSER ROLLS AND EACH OF SAID MARGINAL PAIR OF ROLLERS, ONE OF SAID INDEPENDENT DRIVING CONNECTIONS INCLUDING A SPEED VARYING MEANS. 